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Taurahe
Taurahe is the language spoken by the Tauren from the Warcraft universe. Taurahe/Lexicon Alphabet There are 16 letters in the Taurahe alphabet. The alphabet is extremely seldom used except by those few Tauren who choose to learn it. Very few do choose to learn to write since it is cumbersome to carry many writing tools around while being nomadic, and that most others can't read or write, so it serves little purpose to be literate in an almost unused script. Transliteration The alphabet is transliterated into English as follows. Note the variation: A/AA Y/E/EE/I W/O/OO/U R/ø/øø T D S/Sh Ch/Ts/Tsh St/Sht/Shn L N P F M K H There is no official way to transliterate the language, and a many enduring transliterations use a non-standard method. For example, the Bloodhoof were first interpreted as pronouncing the word for spirit-biter as "washte pawne." It would instead be more appropriate to write "Waste Paane", as the "aw" diphthong doesn't exist in Taurahe, and most speakers say "st" rather than "sht" (or "shn", which is uniquely Bloodhoof). This page uses a standardized system, which results in many familiar words being written differently, and more accurately. *Ishamuhale = Eesamuhale *Lar'korwi = Lara Køwee *Mazzranache = Masara Natse *Mojache = Motsatse Orthography Taurahe uses a basic CV (consonant-vowel) syllable form. Syllables contain exactly one vowel, and one consonant, although no consonant is required at the beginning of an utterance. The majority of words are CVCV, often compounded to form CVCVCVCV. Consonants are Y, W, R, T, D, S, Ts, St, L, N, P, F, M, K, and H. Vowels are A, E, O, and ø. Examples *o - it *stø - eight *kee - smile *tsee - you *pooka - love *teekee - hoof *peso - ear *sooha - two *dooletakee - weapon (fight-tool) *rawasoyo - reason (because-thing) Phonology This is the conventional IPA chart for Taurahe. No dialect uses exactly these sounds and only these sounds, but the variation is often very little. Consonants : Vowels There are seven vowels. In traditional or ceremonial Taurahe, distinction is made between vowel length. For example, "oo" is held longer than "o", but they are pronounced the same otherwise. For typical modern speech, however, the vowels are raised instead. The distinction is like the "oo" and "o" in English "noose" vs "nose". All vowels can also be bilabially nasalized, in that the lips close or almost close during the syllable. This is marked by an -m after the vowel. : =Grammar= Noun Phrases Noun phrases are composed of at least three pieces of information: the gender, thematic role, (any adjectives,) and finally the noun itself. The first word of any noun phrase is a compound word that identifies the gender and role. Genders : Thematic roles The second half of the compound determines the thematic role of the noun. Most commonly are -yo and -soo, respectively referring to the agent and patient of the verb. : Location and Motion Additionally, there are three locative tags, corresponding to inside, outside, and touching surface. There are also three motion tags, describing motion towards, away from, and along. These combine to form twelve basic tags describing location and motion. : : Pronomial Phrases Class tags can stand on their own, acting as the English word he, she, it, or they, if they are preceded by the appropriate case tag. The two words ana and tsee are also used in this way. : : Verb Phrases Verb phrases consist of at least two words of information, the first describes the tense, and the second is the content verb. There are six tenses, plus a relative tense whose meaning varies in different contexts. :